13 Oct 99
This from a friend in Tennessee:
“In ________ County, TN, the local, inept Sheriff’s department executed a ‘no knock’ search warrant on a local residence a short time ago. The officer who was picked to go in first had worked as a deputy for only three days, had never worked in law enforcement before, and had not even been through the police academy yet.
As he burst through the entryway, he stumbled, with his finger on the trigger of his pistol, and accidentally fired a fatal shot into the head of a woman who was sleeping on a nearby couch.
As one might expect with a sheriff’s department this incompetent, the warrant was executed (you guessed it!) on the wrong residence. The woman who was killed was the innocent occupant of a house in an ordinary residential neighborhood. She was not involved in any criminal activity.”
Lesson: Most shooting “accidents” are the result of the convergence of personal arrogance and incompetence. They are ninety-nine percent preventable with good training, competent supervision, good equipment, and a good learning attitude on the part of everyone in the organization.
/John
